Farewell, Friends

This week’s Grand Central Stories Column comes in the form of a goodbye letter. Denise Romano, our beloved columnist and friend, is moving on with her journalism career and pursuing an exciting opportunity in her hometown, the Big Apple. Her departure is bittersweet. Denise has been an integral part of our team and she has set the bar high for the Grand Central Stories column. We wish her much success and happiness.

When I started my Grand Central Stories column just seven months ago, I never imagined I would be saying goodbye so early.

While I enjoyed my time freelancing, I was given an offer I couldn’t refuse: the local paper I was a stringer for, The Home Reporter News and Brooklyn Spectator News, offered me a full-time staff writing position. This means I will be covering issues in and writing about the neighborhood I live and grew up in.

Detective Ahmed Nasser: NYPD Muslim Community Liaison

Ahmed Nasser was born in Yemen in 1966. He had a relatively normal childhood, until northern soldiers took him away from his home at the age of 15 and forced him to join the army.

Nasser said he was scared to death and wanted desperately to escape. Luckily, he was able to because he had family in the U.S. After applying to an ESL program at Hunter College, Nasser moved overseas in 1986, possibly planning to return home.

“I was shocked and scared and didn’t know how to speak the language,” he recalled.

But that never happened.

Drug Abuse a Growing Epidemic Among Arab Youth

Prescription pill abuse is a growing epidemic among teens in southwest Brooklyn, especially in the Arab population. Since the beginning of 2012, at least four young adults have died from OxyContin overdoses.

To tackle this serious issue, the Egyptian American Community Foundation hosted a meeting on March 1, led by NYPD’s Muslim Community Liaison Detective Ahmed Nasser. Nasser came to the United States 26 years ago from Yemen and is familiar with the struggles of being a new immigrant.

Nasser said he moved to Bay Ridge recently and doesn’t like what he sees on the streets.

“I am seeing young people brazenly [using drugs] like no one is watching,” he said. “They go into the street and sell, but I don’t want to give them a ticket or lock them up – how is that going to help?”

Nasser said his goal is to reach out and educate young adults about drugs. If you show them how they will end up in jail and have difficulty finding a job, they will be less likely to use. He feels if you arrest them and put them through the system, no lessons are learned.

At Park51 Open House, Dialogue Not Dissonance

Park51 held its Spring 2012 Open House on February 25, warmly opening its doors to hundreds from near and far. The afternoon was filled with conversation and presentations on the courses that the community center is offering this spring. They include Islamic art and calligraphy, Arabic for adults and children on various levels, the genealogy of Muslims in America, yoga, karate and capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of music and dance.

“The point of the spring program is to teach the mind, body and soul,” said Sa’ad Ansari, director of operations at Park51, adding that Greek philosophy is an influence on the course selection. “Park51 is like a diner: the cooks are Muslim, but everyone is invited.”

Lena Alhusseini Champions Women and Children’s Rights

p>Lena Alhusseini has been a leading activist for women and children’s rights around the world for as long as she can remember.

Born in Jerusalem, she currently lives in New York and serves as the executive director of the Arab American Family Support Center (AAFSC), which provides a plethora of services to both new immigrants and established Arab-American families.

Alhusseini said that there wasn’t just one turn of events that made her choose the work that she does. “As a woman in the Middle East, I definitely feel there is a gender difference by the way we are treated socially,” she said.

Alhusseini explained that she went to boarding school in the U.K., but her first job was doing social work in Saudi Arabia. She recalled being in an emergency room helping a pregnant 14-year-old who was legally married the year before. “That was my first shock,” she said.

Then, while in Thailand on her honeymoon, Alhusseini and her new husband took a wrong turn. They found themselves on a road where seven and eight-year-olds were up for sale. “I was sick for three days,” she recalled.

Joe Elhilow: An Arab-American Success Story

p>Joseph Elhilow is a second-generation Lebanese-American lawyer, who received a prestigious award on February 10.

The National Arab American Medical Association New York Chapter, honored Elhilow with a Leadership Award.

“It’s nice to be honored by a group that’s as active and knowledgeable as they are,” Elhilow said. “It always feels nice to be honored by your own community. As a lawyer, being honored by doctors – it’s a great thing.”

Elhilow’s grandparents came to the U.S. around 1905 from Lebanon. He grew up in Dyker Heights and attended Xaverian High School and St. Francis College, where he received a full-tuition scholarship and was student body vice president.

Elhilow went on to the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he also received a full scholarship. He got his Juris Doctor in 1974 and was appointed Assistant District Attorney of Brooklyn in 1975, where he stayed until he left for private practice in 1982.

Today, Elhilow keeps very busy offering his legal services to those in need. He is a Maronite Catholic and a member of Our Lady of Lebanon. He is also General Counsel for the St. Nicholas’ Home for the Aged, a member of the Arab American Family Support Center and Southwest Brooklyn Citizen Corps (CERT1NYC). Elhilow is past president of the Salaam Club of New York and a member of the Board of the Salaam Club of New York Foundation.

“If something needs doing, I try to help,” he said. “I’m not digging ditches down there, I’m just telling them how to deal with the law.”

Hundreds Call for NYPD Accountability

About 400 New Yorkers of all creeds and colors gathered in Foley Square on February 3 to call for the accountability of the recent NYPD actions and scandals.

The rally was a joint effort of Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) and The Majlis ash-Shura of Metro NY. About fifty interfaith organizations and dozens of elected officials spoke out against the way the police department has been unfairly profiling Muslims and people of color. The most recent allegations include the screening of the film “The Third Jihad,” by over 1,500 police officers. The film depicts all Muslims as terrorists and is the product of a far right settler group in the West Bank.

“Commissioner Ray Kelly willingly participated in the making of this film and while he has apologized, he has not explained why the NYPD chose to lie, on the record, about his participation for well over a year,” said Fahd Ahmed, legal and policy director of DRUM. “In the same period, the NYPD has operated without transparency or accountability and often with brute force with black, Latino, other communities of color, youth and Occupy Wall Street activists.”

Bronx Interfaith Nonprofit Saved

The Muslim Women’s Institute for Research and Development

serves over 5,000 needy New Yorkers a month – and just got a new lease on life. The organization has two locations: in Highbridge and Parkchester, Bronx, providing hunger, health and immigration services. It was in danger of closing its doors on December 31, due to lack of funding, but got a donation just in the nick of time from the Collegiate Church.

“It felt really good,” said Nurah Ama’tullah, executive director of the Institute. “It is truly like a blessing.”

Ama’tullah said the payroll was disrupted around Labor Day and the Institute’s future was in limbo until the donation came in on December 19. “It was a time of prayer and reflection as to how we would continue,” she recalled. “For someone like myself, it’s always a question as to ‘Is this what Allah wants me to do?’”

The $100,000 grant was able to pay off the $50,000 in existing debt and will be used to cover operational expenses through the end of March.

New Yorkers Trying to Save Landmarks of Immigrant History

I've been writing about the current immigrant (and Arab) experiences in Brooklyn and New York. This piece by Public Radio International highlights the history of the Arab community's experience in the city. Those who are seeking to preserve that legacy of what is called "Little Syria", beneath what is now the Battery Tunnel and the site of the World Trade Center, are fighting to preserve one six story building. I find interesting that the "Save Washington Street" efforts have the power to affect not only immigrants in New York City, but-- as the piece mentions-- can become a shining reinforcement of the American Dream to Arab immigrants in other parts of the country, too.

If you click on the picture or link above, you can go to the article and either read it or listen to the MP3.

I find many people are surprised to discover how far back the Arab American experience goes.
Did you realize the roots go as far back as the 1800's?

By Denise Romano, Aslan Media Columnist

Sahadi Fine Foods: A Living Legacy in Brooklyn

Just across the East River, on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, a piece of Little Syria alive and well.

Charlie Sahadi runs Sahadi Fine Foods, which his Great Uncle Abrahim started as A. Sahadi and Co. on Washington Street back in 1895.

“He was an importer and brought in products from the Middle East. He also manufactured tahini, bulghur and halvah,” explained Sahadi. “This was a little before my time, so I actually couldn’t see what he was doing.”

Abrahim did not have any children; but did have nephews, including Charlie’s father, Wade, who emigrated from Lebanon in 1918. Working for his uncle to make money and support his brothers and sisters back home, Wade was employed at Sahadi from 1919 until 1941, when, says Charilie,the two had a “difference of opinion.”